Direction: Divide the class into five (5) groups and discuss within the group

the story of “Silence - A Fable” by Edgar Allan Poe (published 1838).

Interpret and evaluate the story and present it.
Ours is a world of words: Quiet we call
Silence -- which is the merest word of all"
-Al Aaraaf.
"Listen to me," said the Demon, as he placed
his hand upon my head. "There is a spot upon this
accursed earth which thou hast never yet beheld
And if by any chance thou hast beheld it, it must
have been in one of those vigorous dreams which
come like the Simoon upon the brain of the
sleeper who hath lain down to sleep among the
forbidden sunbeams --among the sunbeams, I
say, which slide from off the solemn columns of
the melancholy temples in the wilderness. The
region of which I speak is a dreary region in
Libya, by the borders of the river Zaire. And
there is no quiet there, nor silence.
"The waters of the river have a saffron and
sickly hue --and they flow not onwards to the sea,
but palpitate forever and forever beneath the red eye of the sun with a tumultuous
and convulsive motion. For many miles on either side of the river's oozy bed is a
pale desert of gigantic water-lilies. They sigh one unto the other in that solitude,
and stretch towards the heaven their long ghastly necks, and nod to and fro their
everlasting heads. And there is an indistinct murmur which cometh out from
among them like the rushing of subterrene water. And they sigh one unto the other.

"But there is a boundary to their realm --the boundary of the dark, horrible, lofty
forest. There, like the waves about the Hebrides, the low underwood is agitated
continually. But there is no wind throughout the heaven. And the tall primeval
trees rock eternally hither and thither with a crashing

26
 and mighty sound. And from their high summits, one by one, drop everlasting
dews. And at the roots strange poisonous flowers lie writhing in perturbed slumber.
And overhead, with a rustling and loud noise, the grey clouds rush westwardly
forever, until they roll, a cataract, over the fiery wall of the horizon. But there is no
wind throughout the heaven. And by the shores of the river Zaire there is neither
quiet nor silence.

"It was night, and the rain fell; and, falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was
blood. And I stood in the morass among the tall lilies, and the rain fell upon my
head --and the lilies sighed one unto the other in the solemnity of their desolation.
"And, all at once, the moon arose through the thin ghastly mist, and was crimson
in color. And mine eyes fell upon a huge grey rock which stood by the shore of the
river, and was litten by the light of the moon. And the rock was grey, and ghastly,
and tall, --and the rock was grey. Upon its front were characters engraven in the
stone; and I walked through the morass of water-lilies, until I came close unto the
shore, that I might read the characters upon the stone. But I could not decypher the
characters. And I was going back into the morass, when the moon shone with a
fuller red, and I turned and looked again upon the rock, and upon the characters --
and the characters were DESOLATION.

"And I looked upwards, and there stood a man upon the summit of the rock, and
I hid myself among the water-lilies that I might discover the actions of the man.
And the man was tall and stately in form, and was wrapped up from his shoulders
to his feet in the toga of old Rome. And the outlines of his figure were indistinct --
but his features were the features of a Deity; for the mantle of the night, and of the
mist, and of the moon, and of the dew, had left uncovered the features of his face.
And his brow was lofty with thought, and his eye wild with care; and, in the few
furrows upon his cheek I read the fables of sorrow, and weariness, and disgust with
mankind, and a longing after solitude. And the moon shone upon his face, and
upon the features of his face, and oh! they were more beautiful than the airy
dreams which hovered about the souls of the daughters of Delos!
"And the man sat down upon the rock, and leaned his head upon his hand, and
looked out upon the desolation. He looked down into the low unquiet shrubbery,
and up into the tall primeval trees, and up higher at the rustling heaven, and into
the crimson moon. And I lay close within shelter of the lilies, and observed the
actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude --but the night waned and
he sat upon the rock.
"And the man turned his attention from the heaven, and looked out upon the
dreary river Zaire, and upon the yellow ghastly waters, and upon the pale legions
of the water-lilies. And the man listened to the sighs of the water-lilies, and of the
murmur that came up from among them. And I lay close within my covert and
observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude --but the
night waned and he sat upon the rock.

"Then I went down into the recesses of the morass, and waded afar in among the
wilderness of the lilies, and called unto the hippopotami which dwelt among the
fens in the recesses of the morass. And the hippopotami heard my call, and came,
with the behemoth, unto the foot of the rock, and roared loudly and fearfully
beneath the moon. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of
the man. And the man trembled in the solitude --but the night waned and he sat
upon the rock.

"Then I cursed the elements with the curse of tumult; and a frightful tempest
gathered in the heaven where before there had been no wind. And the heaven
became livid with the violence of the tempest --and the rain beat upon the head of
the man --and the floods of the river came down --and the river was tormented into
foam --and the water-lilies shrieked within their beds --and the forest crumbled
before the wind --and the thunder rolled, --and the lightning fell --and the rock
rocked to its foundation. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions
of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude -- but the night waned and he sat
upon the rock.

"Then I grew angry and cursed, with the curse of silence, the river, and the lilies,
and the wind, and the forest, and the heaven, and the thunder, and the sighs of the
water-lilies. And they became accursed and were still. And the moon ceased to
totter in its pathway up the heaven --and the thunder died away --and the lightning
did not flash --and the clouds hung motionless --and the waters sunk to their level
and remained --and the trees ceased to rock --and the water-lilies sighed no more --
and the murmur was heard no longer from among them, nor any shadow of sound
throughout the vast illimitable desert. And I looked upon the characters of the rock,
and they were changed --and the characters were SILENCE.
"And mine eyes fell upon the countenance of the man, and his countenance was
wan with terror. And, hurriedly, he raised his head from his hand, and stood forth
upon the rock, and listened. But there was no voice throughout the vast illimitable
desert, and the characters upon the rock were SILENCE. And the man shuddered,
and turned his face away, and fled afar off, and I beheld him no more."
Now there are fine tales in the volumes of the Magi --in the iron-bound, 28
melancholy volumes of the Magi. Therein, I say, are glorious histories of the
Heaven, and of the Earth, and of the mighty Sea --and of the Genii that over-ruled
the sea, and the earth, and the lofty heaven. There was much lore too in the sayings
which were said by the sybils; and holy, holy things were heard of old by the dim
leaves that trembled around Dodona --but, as Allah liveth, that fable which the
Demon told me as he sat by my side in the shadow of the tomb, I hold to be the
most wonderful of all! And as the Demon made an end of his story, he fell back
within the cavity of the tomb and laughed. And I could not laugh with the Demon,
and he cursed me because I could not laugh. And the lynx which dwelleth forever
in the tomb, came out therefrom, and lay down at the feet of the Demon, and
looked at him steadily in the face.